Wednesday-Jan. 26th – Tim and Kim went to market to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Also to meat market where they purchased some beef and also a small, skinny chicken, While I washed all the fruit and vegetables in bleach water to kill parasites, Kim prepared the chicken for chicken stew. After cooking the chicken for 3 hours it smelled so good. Kim started trying to get the chicken off the bone but it was impossible. She just added the vegetables and when they were tender thickened the juice she served the stew over rice. It was delicious but we could not eat any of the chicken because it was so tough.
Went to prayer meeting. Bro. John (national pastor) preached in Swahili. Of course we couldn't understand it but Tim did interpret some for us. Enjoyed the service and greeting people we met on our last visit. Had popcorn when we got home.
Thursday-Jan. 27th – Went to revenue office and immigration office. Power was off all day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Had lunch at Tabora Hotel. They have great fish and chips.
Went to see a children's home that is under construction. On the same property they raise pigs and also corn to feed them. We saw several stages of corn being grown. It seems that the construction is nearing completion but who knows in Africa. The saying is (no hurry in Africa) “to hurry brings no blessings”. I think they all agree!
Since we still don't have internet at the house Tim and Bill went into town to Internet Cafe to post on facebook so our family and friends would know we arrived safely in Tabora.
Friday-Jan. 28th – Tim and Kim have gone into town to renew their work permits and take care of other business. We are home taking it easy. It is 74 degrees F, very pleasant. Still needing and waiting for the rains to come.
Had a great lunch of meat balls and rice, corn and salad. Now just waiting for the truck to bring the rest of the luggage. We were told it would be here today or tomorrow.
The electrician came to fix burners on the stove, switch for the heat for our shower and put a new cord on the iron. Oh yes, I had one cold shower! Can hardly take that so Bill and I take turns standing out side the bathroom door and holding the switch while the other showers. I have thought about letting it go a few times but was sure he would pay me back. :)
Saturday-Jan. 29th - Tim and Bill walked into town to buy light bulbs and a switch for our bathroom heater. Also checked e-mail at internet cafe. They stopped by the telephone office to remind them of need of internet service at the house. They are supposed to come out Tuesday (February 1st).
We still do not have the 10 footlockers, washing machine and lawn mower that was shipped by truck from Dar last Tuesday. Perhaps they will come today.
The electrician came out to do some more work. Many of the outside lights were not working so they are trying to get them all fixed. That is a safety thing to have everything well lighted.
Kim and I did some more cleaning. Kim was disappointed in the cleaning while she was gone. You can not believe how dusty things get. From one meal to the next when we clean the table before setting it, the cloth looks as if it hasn't been cleaned in days! Therefore, it is constant cleaning. Kim does all of her own cooking but does have help with the cleaning.
We were told that the power would be off from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. but it never went off! We were so thankful because we use the fans to keep cool and keep the mosquitoes away.
Sunday-Jan. 30th – Too far and too dusty to walk to church so we took a taxi. The driver will also take us home after church. Good services. Tim preached in Swahili. We did not understand but could tell the people received it well. Had a leisurely afternoon – watching tv and taking naps. We went back to church (by taxi again) for the 5 p.m. services. They meet early so everyone can get home before dark. They all walk or ride bikes. Of course the mosquitoes don't come out until dark either. After church we came home and had popcorn and watched tv for a short while. Then off to bed.
Monday-Jan. 31st – Lazy morning. Tim has gone into town on business. We have spent most of the day reading and watching people as they pass by.
Still waiting for the truck to arrive from Dar with trunks, washer and lawn mower. John is really busy cutting the lawn by hand with a weed hook. I think the compound is about 1 acre.
I did wash a few items the old fashioned way today! Didn't hurt me at all! Of course I had just finished and had them on the clothes line and it started to rain. We hurridly brought them in. We were just thankful for the rain and did get a good shower and it still looks promising for more rain.
We have really been enjoying a new ice cream. It is Engish Toffey. It is so good!
Tuesday-Feb. 1st - We had a good rain last night. The air is cool and fresh this morning. The temperature is around 70 but will get higher during the day – probably around 80 – 85 degrees. I don't miss the cold and snow.
Tim and 4 men from the church met with government officials about land purchase. Six acres have been bought and paid for and six more are available. The officials would like for the church to have these. The church has until the last of June to buy the additional acres. After returning home prayer was offered before the Lord by the the men regarding this matter.
At 4:15 p.m. man came to hook up wireless internet but discovered the phone line is dead. Will return tomorrow!
Schedule for power outage: Tuesday 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 6 p.m.to 11 p.m. These are subject to be changed without warning! :)
5:40 p.m. Trucking company just called and they are delivering trunks, washer and mower to the house. What a blessing! After opening all the trunks everything was in great shape! Only one little plastic container lid from the Dollar Store was broken and one bottle of flavoring had leaked a little but did not get on anything except the plastic that was around it. God is so good! Now the sorting begins for Kim and Tim, household items and things that they brought back for their people!
8:50 p.m. Well we just lost power for the evening. Can you believe they were early? That is one thing you can depend on the Tanzanians for being on time or even early!
Washer connected and ready to start washing but wait, the power is off! Will start washing the first thing in the morning if we have water. Praise the Lord it is raining again.
Wednesday-Feb. 2nd – Today is another cool overcast day. 70 degrees is cool to most people here. The morning has been spent going through trunks, unpacking and sorting. The new washing machine has been getting a work out too. After washing the clothes are hung out on a line to dry. Next comes ironing.
Bill repaired a floor lamp that no longer worked.
Since we were so busy Ruthie (Kim's helper) made a delicious lunch of rice, beans and homemade rolls. It was very good!
In the afternoon clothes and gifts were given to John and his family. Tim and Kim had brought these things (new and used) from the States for them. John is the national pastor of the church and a very hard worker. He and his family live on the compound and John is a great help to Tim. There were gifts for many others also.
Had a good crowd for church this evening and Bill got to preach! Of course Tim interpreted for him.
Well, another day has come and gone and still no internet! Also the power was off for about 1 ½ hours.
Thursday-Feb. 3rd - Tim left early to walk into town to take care of business. After a breakfast of uji (millet), coffee and juice the power went off again. That means no internet service today and the phone still isn't working either. This is remote Africa. What a laid back atmosphere! All of these inconveniences coupled with people problems can be very upsetting to the missionaries and pastors.
An hour and half has past and the power is on again. How long it will stay on is unknown. In the meantime the washing machine is going again.
Before noon John received a call that a 2 ½ year old little girl out in the village of Ndevelwa had died. The family attend the church services there. Since they don't embalm here, the funeral was quickly arranged, the coffin made and funeral conducted. Tim, John and Laurent were there. Tim and John officiated. It was determined that the child died of pneumonia. Very sad situation. You cannot believe the poverty of the people that live in these villages. We all sent money for the coffin and food for the family.
Power went off before 6 p.m. and came on at 11 p.m. however, 5 minutes later it was off again.
Dr. Ruth, the doctor from the UK, came and visited about three hours. She is very interesting to listen to.
Still no internet service at the house. One day, may be.......
Friday-Feb. 4th - We are still waiting for the power to come back on. John brought hot water for coffee and tea. He built a fire to cook their breakfast on. We had peanut butter and jelly for breakfast. Tim has walked into town. He will go by the electric office and take care of other business as well.
John has gone into the village to take food to the bereaved family who lost the child yesterday. Before he reached the village he called to say he was out of “petro”. He was on his motorcycle. So, Tim came back from town to get on his motorcycle and take petro to John. But wait, there is another problem – flat tire on his bike. No tools, no tire pump, what's next? Tim walked to find someone who would come and fix the flat. Soon he came back with a Tanzanian. He had a few tools in his hand, but he began to work to locate the problem. The tire was leaking air from a previous repair. In a short time the flat was fixed and Tim was on his way with a can of petro tied onto the bike to find John. They are still gone.
11:20 a.m. the power suddenly came on after about 17 hours. However it was off again at 11:50 a.m. Oh yes, remember this is Africa.
Tim and John returned from the village at 1:15 p.m. The family that received the food were very thankful. Tim said some more people from the village are supposed to come to church Sunday. We have borrowed a car and the four of us are planning to go out this Sunday.
Power is still off therefore no cooking. We went to the Tabora Hotel for a light lunch. Then on to Internet Cafe to check email. We had lots of messages. Since we are not use to the computers we spent our whole hour checking and deleting messages, looked at facebook a little. We are getting impatient waiting to get internet at the house. Will post all of this soon, I hope.
When we got home the power was on. The new lawn mower was filled with petro and oil. Tim had to try it first then John took over. He was like a little boy with a new toy.
One of their men, Bro. Johnston, came for a while to visit and greet us.
Would you believe this? It is 6:15 p.m. and the power just went off! However, there is still power in the blood. Tim called the power company to ask why our power was off again – he was told that the schedule had been changed! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment